Cankles, Claws and Calamities

Well, last week turned out to be slightly more eventful than I had originally planned.  You may have read my Agility Diaries post - Mina meets the A Frame and seen that I fell over (a rather ungraceful swan dive) and hurt my ankle...

The rather glamorous sounding hospital

As it turns out, my ankle quickly became very sore and swollen necessitating a quick trip to the A&E of the rather grandly named Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.  After a bit of a wait in A&E I eventually hobbled my way to a doctor to be told that my ankle was badly sprained and that I was lucky not to have broken it!

This has meant that on my non dog-related work days I cannot wear my high heels to the office and have had to resort to my flat shoes (thank heavens for Skechers - a memento from my London commuting days - and my range of ballet pump type shoes).  It's also put a spanner in the works when it comes to Mina's agility training and general walking of the dogs. Thankfully, my poor long-suffering hubby has been walking the dogs whilst I've struggled (yes, hard to believe I know) to put and keep my feet up.

So, although I haven't been able to walk the dogs I have been able to play with them in the garden.  I can sit and throw balls and toys whilst the hounds hare around generally having a good time. Now, you may know that Mina has the nickname of canine catastrophe. She is, in my opinion, the reason pet insurance was invented (see a previous post about her catastrophic ways here) and a good example of why pet insurance is necessary. Stevie and Jasper (touch wood) seem to have escaped most of this until Saturday evening (after all the vets had closed).

Whilst enjoying chasing Mina, Jasper suddenly pulled up with the GSOD.  For the uninitiated, the GSOD is the 'Greyhound Scream of Death' and you'd know it if you heard it. I'm afraid to say that when it comes to minor pain, Greyhounds are the 'big girl's blouses' of the dog world. (Major pain, on the other hand and they seem to become a very stoic breed).

Jasper's GSOD was enough to send me hobbling at a fast pace across the garden and hubby hurtling down the stairs to see what had happened. Lord knows how Jasper did it (I was videoing him and Mina at the time and can't see what he did) but he ripped his dew claw in half, right at the top. Dew claws bleed like jiggery and trying to keep Jasper still whilst I put on a melolin pad and some vet wrap was no mean feat.

Mina counts her blessings she's not injured (for once)

As the claw was broken so high up, I ended up taking him to the emergency vet who cut it off (cue another GSOD - my poor ear drums), gave Jasper an antibiotic jab and then bandaged his whole paw.  The instructions were I was to take off the bandage on Sunday. Ha - fat chance!  I couldn't get near the bandage without more GSOD, which meant a visit to my normal vet on the Monday.

No wonder, poor Jasper wouldn't let me near him. When the vet removed the bandage (using a scalpel to slice through it), the remaining part of Jasper's dew claw came off with it, leaving him with a very bloody stump/quick.  This time the vet only bandaged part of his leg, finishing with some rather funky leopard print vet wrap, and leaving me with instructions to give him some metacam and to take the bandage off on Wednesday (today).

Jasper channels a 'flashdance' vibe

I have to say the leopard print vet wrap looks rather dapper and made it look like Jasper was channelling a 'Flashdance' vibe with ankle warmers.

So, the time has come to take the bandage off... fingers and paws crossed there'll be no more GSOD but if your windows happen to rattle around 2130 GMT you'll know why!

The Agility Diaries - Mina meets the A Frame

It's fair to say that my agility training isn't going quite to plan!  The wettest April, June and July have dampened my spirits and as Mina doesn't *do* rain, it's somewhat hampered our agility training sessions.

Now, I knew that training a 10 year old greyhound/lurcher would not be without its challenges.  Firstly, the main one is to keep Mina injury free (so far, so good); secondly, I needed to make sure she was fit enough to do this (she is & has been ok'd by the vet); thirdly, I need to get my coordination working (sometimes my brain doesn't seem to communicate to my feet what I want them to do) and finally (and this is the biggie) I need to maintain Mina's focus.

I have no illusions over my agility training with Mina. I have absolutely zero plans of competing with her - it simply wouldn't be fair to expose her to the stress/excitement levels that an agility competition would bring.  I need to pass my practical module for university and I want to have fun along the way for both Mina and me.

Thankfully, we have a great agility instructor - Bob Sharpe, from Field of Dreams. He is very patient with me (especially when my coordination goes to pot) and is full of practical advice.  However, the biggest thing that has both of us stumped is finding the prime motivator for Mina.

Motivation's the name of the game...

Unmotivated? Me? I'm just taking a break!

Mina can switch from being motivated to completely un-motivated in a nano-second.  She can have been enjoying a sequence, a set of grids - getting food rewards, tug & toy rewards - and then; hey presto! Zip! It's like an invisible magic wand has cast a 'unmotivated spell'!  I have had some great advice from Jennifer of Never Say Never Greyhounds, who runs her greyhounds in agility competitions in the USA, and I'm reading 'When Pigs Fly' - a great book by Jane Killion about training the more 'challenging' breeds. Despite all this, I'm still struggling to find that elusive top motivator (or motivators) for Mina.  I'm now considering a rabbit skin and will be hitting ebay/amazon/online retailers to see if I can find one.

Anyway, today's agility session was all about sequences and contacts.  I've already mentioned how lousy my coordination can be and today just proved it. I was doing some simple sequences and attempting to get a front cross executed correctly. For some reason my natural reaction is to do a blind cross and whilst this may still work with a seasoned agility dog, it's not ideal for Mina.

I ran Bob's dog for this and was doing well until my splendid lack of coordination struck - I either tripped or slipped and ended up doing a less than graceful swan dive to the floor, twisting my ankle in the process... ouch! Despite that Meg still made the jump, however it did mean I had to rest up and not do any more sequences.

So, we moved our attention to the A Frame. Due to Mina's age we'll be running a course where all the obstacles are at reduced height. When Mina was younger she used to amaze me and my hubby with her mountain goat like tendencies.  Where we used to live was a very steep escarpment that Mina regularly ran up and down at lightning speed. After several repetitions on lead, we moved to off-lead and she really enjoyed it, as the video shows.



She may have missed her contacts but at this stage I just want her to enjoy going over the A Frame.  We'll finesse her contacts in forthcoming sessions.

In the meantime, my ankle has started to swell up, so I think it's time to put my feet up, apply a bag of frozen  peas, have a cuppa and start searching for that rabbit skin.

The Greyhound Agility Diaries - Weaving a Spell

I haven't blogged in a while, or updated the agility diaries... to be honest, I've been struggling with my motivation and have been a tad under the weather.  I've tried not to let it impact on my training sessions with Mina but, of late, both of us haven't been that motivated (I don't think the nearly constant downpours have helped)!

However, onwards and upwards (as they say).  Today, the sun was shining and we had an agility 1-2-1 session booked. My motivation seemed to be back (hopefully for good) and Mina was keen to get out in the sunshine.

As I've said, we've both been struggling with motivation...Mina's special agility toys weren't seeming to excite her and my 'world famous' liver cake just wasn't cutting it.  However, thanks to one of my college friends (Mr Spraggins - you know who you are!) I'd discovered Pet Munchies and the small roasted duck breast treats (aimed at cats but just the right size for rewards in training) and these little bites of duckie deliciousness seem to be weaving a spell on Mina.

I'm using them on a sheet of clear laminate, to help Mina's 'forward focus' and 'drive'.  Today we used them for getting Mina to go through the weaves.  I've got a set of 6 V weaves at home, but today was the first time Mina's had a chance to generalise and go through a set of 12 V weaves in our training field.

The weaves may not yet be fully upright but Mina's made great progress which, thanks to the power of my iPhone, has been captured on the video below:






Today's training session was great and just shows what a difference a change in mind/motivation (along with sunshine) can do.  I didn't manage to capture it on video but we had a dozen successful trials with the tunnel too, along with some good grid work.

So, what do you think? Will we make it round the grade 3 course next January?

I'll keep blogging when I can and continue to work hard on making the training fun and ensuring we keep our motivation.

The Greyhound Agility Diaries - Mina Becomes The Teacher

This weekend I've been at university with Mina.  It's always lovely to meet up with my friends and fellow students - particularly when we have our dogs with us  - and to have a whole weekend of learning and talking 'dog'.  This weekend was no exception to the rule.

Chilling out on Sunday

Saturday was filled with a number of practical lectures, two 'train a new behaviour' practical sessions plus a lecture from the head of the South Yorkshire Police victim support dog unit.  All in all, it was a jam-packed day, which was rounded off by a lovely beach walk with some of my friends and their dogs. Both Mina and I came away pretty pooped but looking forward to today, when we would be able to have some 1-2-1 time with the lecturers and time to practise our chosen discipline of agility.

I'd pretty much decided that for the agility session I wanted to focus on getting Mina's contacts right.  I wasn't planning on introducing her to the contact equipment fully and had set my training criteria quite carefully.  I planned to slowly introduce Mina to the contacts on the A Frame and get her comfortable with just being on the contact part (using lots of positive reinforcement and homemade liver cake) and then to ensure she would wait and target my hand (eventually working up to just a nose/head dip) before being released.  Due to Mina's size, age and conformation I decided that a nose target to the ground wasn't appropriate.

As it turned out, Mina had different ideas to those that I'd carefully planned! Whilst I was sorting myself out with treats and our lecturer, Lynda, was holding Mina's lead, Mina had different ideas.  Before we knew it, she'd walked on to the contact area and calmly started walking up the A Frame (with Lynda holding the lead) and, just as calmly, walked down the other side and waited on the contacts. I was dumbfounded and overjoyed, all in one go.  Mina always used to have 'mountain goat' like tendencies when she was younger and used to love scaling the embankments in one of the parks in Northumberland, when we lived in the NE.  However, at her current age, I didn't think she'd take to scaling the sides of the A Frame quite how she did.

Mina taking a breather in the agility area

Now, normally, I wouldn't encourage anyone's dog to scale the A Frame (or any agility equipment) without doing the foundation work.  The chances of it going wrong and the dog developing a fear of the equipment can be too great. So, as Mina had taken matters into her own paws, I worked with her.  We did several repetitions of the A Frame, all with me holding her collar whilst she walked over (it is more stable holding her collar than lead, but as she'd started scaling it whilst wearing her lead, we didn't take it off the first time) and lots of liver cake at the other end.

As we were on a roll, and Mina was still excited, I decided to have a go at the rigid tunnel.  We collapsed it as far as it would go and to begin with, I clicked and treated Mina every time she stuck her nose in it, or put her paw in it. When she appeared comfortable enough with this, I went to the other end of the tunnel and our lecturer, Emily, held Mina at the other end.  I kneeled down, showed Mina that I had tasty venison liver and called her through....

...the tunnel isn't really an ideal size for greyhounds but the lure of the venison liver was strong and Mina calmly made her way through the tunnel for it and we practised this several times.

I am so proud of Mina. She constantly amazes me with her capacity to learn and to disprove the many myths that surround older dogs and greyhounds.  Mina is the proof that you can teach an old dog and greyhounds new tricks.

The Canine Student Becomes Teacher

But, enough of my pride; what lessons did Mina teach me?  Firstly, she taught me role reversal - sometimes our dogs become the teacher. Despite me having set the criteria of gradually introducing Mina to the contacts of the A Frame, she took matters into her own paws (so to speak)! I think sometimes, when we're training our dogs we can forget to look at what our dogs are really telling us and we can fail to adapt our training around them.

Secondly, Mina showed me again how important it is for us to really know our dogs - especially when they've reached their training limit.  I was having tons of fun -  after all, Mina was proving to be a super star - and I wanted to continue but the signals from Mina was that she was well and truly pooped.

She would have continued because I wanted her to but she wouldn't have enjoyed it and, knowing our luck, would have injured herself.  I think it's a human tendency when our dogs are doing well to have the "just one more go," "just one more repetition before we finish" mentality.

I've heard so many stories how the 'just one more go' has pushed dogs to their limits and has meant a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation process to get them back to their former selves. I never want to do this to Mina or any of my dogs.

So, we finished on a high and both had a cooling drink before setting off home. Luckily for Mina she could snooze in the back of the car and dream of being a mountain goat for the day!

A 'pooped pooch' ready for the journey home

The Greyhound Agility Diaries - Pt I

Back at the end of January I wrote a post about Mina's first agility 1-2-1 (Jumping at the Chance: Greyhound Agility).  Since then we've had two more 1-2-1s and I've invested in some agility jumps and a set weaves to practise with at home.

Now, here comes the tricky bit... by February 2013 both Mina and I need to be able to complete (note: I say 'complete' not 'compete') a grade 3 agility course - yikes! It's all down to the Advanced Dog Training module of my university degree.  I did have the choice of other doggy disciplines such as gundog, obedience, scent work, working trials and flyball - along with the college tests (which are a mish mash of everything), however none of them really appealed to me as much as agility.  So agility it is for both Mina and I.

We both have so much to learn and I have a rather hefty training plan and schedule to produce to illustrate how we're going to get from complete novice to completion of a grade 3 course (double yikes)!

Before Crufts I had been looking at agility equipment on Ebay and 'watching' several items - deliberating whether to spend my birthday money on them (or not). When I arrived at Crufts I was pleased to see that one of the Ebay suppliers I'd been watching - Jesse Jump Agility - was there. So, I took the plunge and bought three 'deluxe' jumps and a set of 6 'deluxe' weaves.

I tried out the jumps - which are three quarter width - with Mina and she loved them, as the video shows.



Since buying the home agility equipment, I've attended an Agility Training the Trainer Course. I plan to incorporate elements of agility into my dog training classes and really wanted to learn how to do it properly.  The course was run by Kim Hunt who runs Derbyshire Agility Centre.  Kim is a qualified animal behaviourist and has over 20 years' experience as an agility judge and competitor.

The course was jam-packed with information, practical demonstrations and the chance for us to undertake short training sessions with volunteers. The focus was on pre-agility work and introducing dogs and handlers to the equipment safely.

I've come away with some great ideas of how I can help Mina prepare for each piece of equipment and more importantly, how I can incorporate this into my training plan.  Also, as an added bonus, the exercises are easy to incorporate into my training classes and 1-2-1s and will help owners and their dogs with focus and bonding.

So, what's next?  Well, we've a long list and to get to the stage of completing a grade 3 course feels like a mountain climb. I'm going to be putting the work in on the basics like targeting, establishing a solid wait and working on forward focus (amongst other things) and working on my coordination!

I'll share details of our progress along the way and if you've any agility tips to share, please don't be shy - I need all the help I can get!

Jumping at the Chance - Greyhound Agility

I've always quite liked the look of dog agility. I've seen several demonstrations at Crufts, set up a PR stunt with Chris Evans having a go at dog agility (you can see the video here) and have even had a go at some greyhound-sized fun agility with Stevie.

As part of my university studies and the 'Advanced Dog Training' module, I have to choose a doggy discipline to train Mina in and I'm toying with either agility or scent work. I really do love the idea of agility - it's a great way to keep both me and Mina fit - but as most people will know, Mina's a bit of a canine catastrophe, she's getting on a bit now (she'll be 10 this year) and as a greyhound isn't a breed you'd automatically associate with agility! (Though, the fabulous Jen at Never Say Never Greyhounds disproves this time and time again).

However, we're not ones to let any obstacles stand in our way and today we had our first ever 1-2-1 agility session. I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't think we'd be haring around a course in the first session but I was itching to have a go on the equipment and I had a feeling that Mina would love it too.

So, at 11am we found ourselves in the 'Field of Dreams' - an agility school run by Bob Sharpe.  Bob has competed at Crufts and is well known within the agility world. He's straight talking and, as you would expect, really knows his stuff.  We'd had a long chat before I booked the session and had gone through Mina's age, breed and why I wanted to try agility.  Bob explained that our first session would really be a chance to see how easily we could motivate Mina and that this would be the basis of the lesson.

Thankfully, Mina loves to tug and play ball - all of which really helped. Once she'd had (several) chances to go off and sniff all the pee-mails, she really did show that you can motivate a greyhound and keep their attention. By the end of the session, we even managed a few jumps (including a rather spectacular long jump!)




I'm really proud of Mina and I think I may have been bitten by the agility bug. We've got to work on motivation training for the next week or so, but we've already booked our next session.

We've a long way to go but I'm sure that together, the journey will be worth it. I'll be updating the blog with Mina's progress in the coming weeks.

I've also got a great February giveaway coming too - the chance for 2 people to win a pair of tickets each to Crufts. So do come back in February to see how you can win.

If you've got any great agility tips that you'd like to share, or would like to comment on the video please do add a comment - I love reading them.